‘A victory’: Branford schools change course; all students to return sooner to in-person learning By Linda Conner Lambeck BRANFORD — The town’s public schools will begin to open for full-time in-person instruction in stages starting with the elementary schools on March 22. Walsh Intermediate School will follow on March 29 and the high school on April 5. The plan restores five-day-a-week, in-person learning weeks sooner than a plan that had been outlined by Superintendent of Schools Hamlet Hernandez a week ago. “It was certainly a win for Branford,” said Jennifer Orlando, a parent who helped start an online petition pushing the district to fully reopen. “We will claim it as a victory.”